Dana adds another family member to team as campaign trail winds on

Dana seems to add another family member to her campaign team every week

Dana seems to add another family member to her campaign team every week. Yesterday she was accompanied by her 79-year-old mother, Sheila, on the election trail in Limerick. Mrs Brown had come down from Derry for the formal nomination on Tuesday, and decided to stay on for a few days, travelling with her daughter, Rosemary Scallon, around the south-west.

"I'm glad to be alive to see it," she said. "I tell her it doesn't matter whether she's elected or not." Their first visit was to Milford House Hospice, run by the Little Company of Mary, where they were met by the Matron, Sister Norbert, Mr George Lee, who co-ordinates fund-raising and other activities for the hospice, and other members of staff.

The group paused at the small oratory in the hospice, where Dana and her husband prayed for a few minutes, before meeting more staff and patients.

One young man who was clearly very ill was being wheeled along the corridor.

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"I know your face, I don't know your name, but you're beautiful," he told the candidate. She stooped to speak to him, gently stroking his hand held clenched against his chest.

Another older man recalled her winning the Eurovision Song Contest and promised: "I won't let you down."

Dana posed for photographs with staff members and asked them about their work, telling them: "You're doing wonderful work."

Her last stop was in the day room, where volunteers were engaged in their weekly entertainment of residents of the hospice and adjoining nursing home. They broke into All Kinds of Everything when the campaign party arrived, and when it left one of the volunteers, Frances Duggan, sang a verse of Dana's own song, Our Lady of Knock in a clear, sure voice.

She was a member of the Redemptorist choir, she said. "It's a pleasure to sing for you, and to sing one of your own," she said to Dana.

The next visit was to Workspace, a collection of small craft units run by the Shannon Regional Development Authority. The visit, like the rest of her itinerary, was organised by Sean Buckley, who has a daily programme on the local radio station in Limerick.

She then visited We Frame You, a picture-framing workshop run by Ms Mary Hannon. Another vote? "My first preference will be Mary McAleese," said Ms Hannon. "She'll be a good ambassador for us. But when you meet someone you'll consider them for number two."

As Dana left she was approached by Esther McDonagh, a young woman who described herself as "a fan before the Presidency". She pressed a good-luck card into her hand. "I came to cheer her on," she said. "I'm definitely a number one vote. "Her ideas on moral decline and that. Someone has to stand up about it. She's very brave."

Conspicuous by her absence throughout the day was Ms Nora Bennis, who came out strongly in support of Dana at the outset of her campaign. "Nora Bennis is not involved," Mr Buckley.